A preliminary study on the plankton assemblages of Lough Derg (Ireland) during a winter-spring season

Pociecha, Agnieszka; Higgins, Tara; McCarthy, Kieran

doi:10.2478/v10009-010-0032-6

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…For example, it is clear that increased light levels would probably increase the predatory efficacy of G. aculeatus , towards both mysids and cladocerans (Townsend & Risebrow ), but the low light levels used in this study reflect the fact that these intermediate and basal prey primarily encounter limnetic G. aculeatus in inshore surface waters during the night (Southern & Gardiner ). In addition, the basal prey concentrations used in our experimental trials fall well within natural abundances found in the field, typically between 1 and 100 individuals L −1 (Southern & Gardiner ; Pociecha, Higgins & McCarthy ). Therefore, we contend that the results presented here should not simply be viewed as an artefact of coercing mixtures of species that lack real‐word relevance.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Fortune favours the bold: a higher predator reduces the impact of a native but not an invasive intermediate predator

Barrios‐O'Neill

Dick

Emmerson

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary1. Emergent multiple predator effects (MPEs) might radically alter predictions of predatory impact that are based solely on the impact of individuals. In the context of biological invasions, determining if and how the individual-level impacts of invasive predators relates to their impacts in multiple-individual situations will inform understanding of how such impacts might propagate through recipient communities. 2. Here, we use functional responses (the relationship between prey consumption rate and prey density) to compare the impacts of the invasive freshwater mysid crustacean Hemimysis anomala with a native counterpart Mysis salemaai when feeding on basal cladoceran prey (i) as individuals, (ii) in conspecific groups and (iii) in conspecific groups in the presence of a higher fish predator, Gasterosteus aculeatus. 3. In the absence of the higher predator, the invader consumed significantly more basal prey than the native, and consumption was additive for both mysid species -that is, group consumption was predictable from individual-level consumption. 4. Invaders and natives were themselves equally susceptible to predation when feeding with the higher fish predator, but an MPE occurred only between the natives and higher predator, where consumption of basal prey was significantly reduced. In contrast, consumption by the invaders and higher predator remained additive. 5. The presence of a higher predator serves to exacerbate the existing difference in individuallevel consumption between invasive and native mysids. We attribute the mechanism responsible for the MPE associated with the native to a trait-mediated indirect interaction, and further suggest that the relative indifference to predator threat on the part of the invader contributes to its success and impacts within invaded communities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Fortune favours the bold: a higher predator reduces the impact of a native but not an invasive intermediate predator

Barrios‐O'Neill

Dick

Emmerson

et al. 2013

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…For the identification and counting of zooplankton species, five replicate sub-samples were analysed microscopically (×100 or ×200) in a chamber of 0.5 ml of volume. Taxonomic analyses of zooplankton (rotifer, copepod and cladoceran taxa) were conducted using keys according to Pociecha et al ( 2010 ). Quantitative samples were prepared by filtering 30 L of water and reducing the sample volume to 50 mL.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small effects of a large sediment contamination with heavy metals on aquatic organisms in the vicinity of an abandoned lead and zinc mine

Ciszewski

Aleksander-Kwaterczak

Pociecha

et al. 2013

Environ Monit Assess

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The effects of the long-term contamination of water reservoirs with mine effluents were investigated at an abandoned mine site in Upper Silesia, southern Poland. The studies covered metal content and mobility in bottom sediments as well as water chemistry in relation to the content of metals in selected macrophytes and their physiology and the composition of phyto- and zooplankton communities. Although it is 40 years since mining ceased, reservoir sediments are still heavily contaminated with cadmium, zinc and lead with concentrations (mg/kg), which vary roughly between 130–340, 10,000–50,000 and 4,000–12,000, respectively. About 50–80 % of these elements are associated with the reducible phase, and only a small percentage, <10 %, is present in the most mobile exchangeable phase. Despite the high total metal concentration in sediments, their content in the submerged plants Myriophyllum spicatum and the emerged plants Phragmites australis was low. The observed effects of heavy metal contamination on photosynthetic activity in the leaves of P. australis were negligible, whereas those in M. spicatum show up only as a difference in the distribution of photosynthetic activity in leaves of different ages, which seems to be related to the very good water quality and to the generally small concentrations of metals in pond water. The physicochemical properties of water also seem to control the presence of planktonic species more than does sediment contamination. However, a shift toward groups of species known to be more resistant to heavy metals (diatoms, green algae and Rotifera) indicates some adaptative changes related to the long-lasting contamination of ponds.

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“…We focus in this study on the monogonont rotifer species S. pectinata (Ehrenberg, ), which represents one of the commonest truly planktonic rotifers inhabiting freshwater systems. Due to its comparatively large size for a rotifer (240–550 μm), the species is quite well catalogued (Nogrady & Segers, ), with occurrences documented worldwide, including all of Europe (Arnemo et al ., ; Koste & Voigt, ; Smirnov, ; Marcé et al ., ; Wolska & Piasecki, ; Pociecha, Higgins & Mccarthy, ) as well as parts of Asia, Australia, North and South America and the Arctic (Stemberger, ; Hawkins, ; Chengalath & Koste, ; Sanoamuang, ; Frutos, Poi De Neiff & Neiff, ). Nevertheless, a recent molecular phylogeographic study of populations in the South Tyrol region of Italy argued in favour of cryptic speciation in this species (Obertegger et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population structuring in the monogonont rotifer Synchaeta pectinata: high genetic divergence on a small geographical scale

et al. 2015

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1. Like many other zooplankton species, individual species of planktonic freshwater rotifers often possess a cosmopolitan distribution despite inhabiting isolated habitats (e.g. ponds or lakes) that present little opportunity for direct gene flow. This 'everything is everywhere' distribution is typically ascribed to aspects of the life history of these animals (heterogonic reproductive strategy) in combination with the high dispersal capabilities presented by a dormant stage (resting eggs). 2. Recent molecular analyses indicate the presence of strong population structuring in many rotifer species, including both phylogeographic structuring and the potential for cryptic speciation. Building on these studies, we investigated the intraspecific genetic structuring in the mitochondrial barcoding marker cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) among mid-European populations of the cosmopolitan rotifer Synchaeta pectinata (Rotifera, Monogononta). These data were analysed using a combination of phylogenetic analysis and haplotype networks as well as population-genetic methods to assess the degree of population and geographic structuring. 3. Gene flow among four neighbouring populations in north-west Germany (126 individuals; regional scale) and between them and a set of populations from northern Italy (an additional 48 individuals based on literature data; mid-European scale) was generally low. Paradoxically, however, higher genetic similarity occurred across the broader mid-European scale than within the regional scale. Nevertheless, no significant correlation with spatial distance was detected at the former scale, rejecting an isolation-by-distance model for population differentiation. 4. Most populations comprised several distinct haplotype clusters, each corresponding to ancient mitochondrial lineages of S. pectinata. Although it is common to infer cryptic speciation from results such as these, the pattern we observed can also arise through historical colonisation events and/or persistent founder effects (Monopolization hypothesis) and we present potential arguments against the default assumption that S. pectinata comprises a complex of cryptic species.

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A preliminary study on the plankton assemblages of Lough Derg (Ireland) during a winter-spring season

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Fortune favours the bold: a higher predator reduces the impact of a native but not an invasive intermediate predator

Fortune favours the bold: a higher predator reduces the impact of a native but not an invasive intermediate predator

Small effects of a large sediment contamination with heavy metals on aquatic organisms in the vicinity of an abandoned lead and zinc mine

Population structuring in the monogonont rotifer Synchaeta pectinata: high genetic divergence on a small geographical scale

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